


Nurses Are Patient People

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic [92]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medical, Humor, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 17:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7473594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>LJ Comment Fic for AUs prompt: <i>Stargate Atlantis, medical AU, Evan Lorne the nurse keeps being mistaken for a doctor</i></p><p>In which Rodney thinks he's being a friendly guy. Spoiler alert: he's really not. ::grins::</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nurses Are Patient People

Rodney was impatient to get started. It was Thursday, so he was working out of the hospital for the day, which meant he wouldn’t see John until dinner. Rodney had taken to regularly visiting the Peds office, just to watch John work. He was competent, intelligent, and compassionate, which had become a powerful turn-on. Missing that already had him in a bad mood, and being forced to wait wasn’t making him any happier.

The door to the meeting room finally opened, ushering in a man with dark hair, blue eyes, and a white lab coat over black scrubs.

“Dr. McKay? Dr. Winston –”

“Yes, yes, fine.” Rodney checked off Dr. Winston’s name on his list. “Have a seat so we can get started.”

“Oh. No, you don’t –”

“Dr. Winston, I have a very busy schedule today, and the sooner we get this started, the sooner we get finished. Take a seat.”

The guy raised his eyebrows but dutifully assumed a seat near the front.

“Okay. Now, I shouldn’t have to go through this again, but Weir assures me that I do. So here it is: diagnosis is not for idiots.”

Rodney had cut his spiel down to twenty-three minutes. He was tired of young, new doctors thinking they knew more about diagnosis than he did. Everyone wanted to be the hero, which was why the hospital was facing a possible law suit due to a misdiagnosis that resulted in permanent paralysis for a patient.

Elizabeth had insisted that Rodney share some of the blame for that. He wasn’t approachable, she said. But it wasn’t Rodney’s fault that some of the doctors on staff didn’t want to utilize their best resource. It had nothing to do with how friendly Rodney was or wasn’t.

And really, he couldn’t be all that unapproachable because the late doctor stopped on his way out to shake Rodney’s hand.

“You do really good work, Dr. McKay. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you, Dr….Winston, was it?”

“No, I’m not –”

“Kukenberger! I need to talk to you!” Rodney called out. He grabbed his tablet and chased after the head of cardiology. “Oh, uh…have a nice day, Dr. Winston.”

*o*o*o*

Rodney was trying to track down Richard Woolsey, the staff lawyer. He had a question about the legalities of searching a patient’s home without their permission, to see if there were any environmental toxins, but so far the man had been unexpectedly elusive.

Rodney cut through Med/Surg and saw Dr. Winston sitting at the nurse’s station, surrounded by patient charts. Normally he would’ve kept on walking, hunting his prey, but Winston had been nice to him at the morning meeting. So he stopped, and leaned against the counter.

“Is the heater in your office on the fritz, too?” he asked. “I swear maintenance has it in for me. It’s like the sub-tropics in there.”

Winston looked up at him, and grinned. Huh. Dimples. He was probably really popular with the ladies. “No, I’m just –”

“Signing off on meds? The paperwork never ends. If you see Woolsey, tell him I’m looking for him.”

“I’d be happy to, but –”

“It’s been nice talking to you, Dr. Winston.”

Rodney walked away feeling pretty pleased with his interpersonal skills.

*o*o*o*

Later that day, when Rodney was on his way to the cafeteria, he stumbled across Dr. Winston dressing down one of his nurses.

“I don’t care how good your intentions were,” Winston said. “You put the patient at risk. We have protocols for a reason.”

He was much nicer than Rodney would’ve been, even without knowing what the girl did. He abhorred shortcuts, particularly when it resulted in sloppy, incomplete work. Rodney’s own staff knew that lesson very well.

“Go ahead and take your break, and I’ll find something else for you to do for the rest of the day.” Winston gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’m going to have to write this up.”

The girl nodded, looking on the verge of tears, and she hurried on down the hall when Winston indicated she could leave.

“Nurses,” Rodney said with a shake of his head. “Think they know everything, am I right?”

Dr. Winston frowned. “Dr. McKay, I don’t –”

“Don’t get me wrong, they’re invaluable and all that, but honestly. If they want to call all the shots they should’ve gone to med school like the rest of us.” Rodney thought Winston would find that funny, but instead he looked positively furious. Rodney back-tracked over what he’d said, but he didn’t think it had been offensive. Insensitive, maybe.

“Dr. McKay, this has gone on long enough. I’m not –”

Luckily Woolsey happened by at just that moment, and saved Rodney from having to apologize for whatever had pissed off Dr. Winston.

“Richard! It’s about time, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Woolsey sighed. “Yes, I heard. I’m on my way to lunch, Dr. McKay.”

“Good. We can eat together and talk about my case.”

“Wonderful.”

Rodney dragged Woolsey down the hall towards the elevators, feeling Dr. Winston’s glare on the back of his neck all the way. He’d almost made it the whole day without pissing the guy off. A new personal record.

*o*o*o*

The end of the day couldn’t come fast enough. Rodney had plans with John, dinner out followed by some athletic sex when they got back to John’s place. And Rodney wouldn’t have to worry about being nice or polite or _approachable_ , because John seemed to like him when he was just being himself.

Just his luck that the elevator would have to stop and let on Dr. Winston, and a woman so tall that Rodney had to look up at her. There was something very familiar about her, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Dr. McKay,” she said, and her voice was familiar too. “I’m sorry I missed your presentation this morning. I got called in on an emergency appendectomy.”

“Everyone on my list was there,” Rodney replied, confused. “Who are you?”

The woman shook her head. “Elena Winston. We ate lunch together a couple of weeks ago?”

“Oh.” And yes, now Rodney remembered. They’d talked about hockey, of all things, and how disappointed the college basketball coach had been when she’d chosen to go out for field hockey instead. “Wait. _You’re_ Dr. Winston?”

Rodney looked at the guy he’d been calling Dr. Winston all day.

“Have you met my unit supervisor? Evan Lorne.” And by the tone of Elena’s voice, she’d been fully briefed on Rodney’s colossal misstep.

“But…he came to the meeting.”

“To tell you I was tied up and couldn’t make it.” At least she sounded amused and not angry. “Med/Surg would fall apart with him. He keeps the whole department running smoothly.”

Rodney remembered the comment he’d made about nurses and flushed. “Yes. I’m sure he does.”

The elevator doors slid open to reveal the lobby, and Rodney had never been so happy to see it.

“Have a good night, Dr. McKay,” Evan said politely.

“Yes. Right. You, too.” 

Rodney hurried off, certain that the story of his latest interpersonal faux pas would be spread all over the hospital by next Thursday. He’d have to meet with Elizabeth. Again.

Maybe he and John would skip dinner.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** Very special thanks to my own pet nurse, wrathchilde, for his assistance with plotting this out and providing medical details.


End file.
